Theos-Talk Archives (March 2003 Message tt00347)

The Romans never wanted to enter Palestine; couple of hundred years before
that , the Jews rebelled against Greece, which conqured Palestine during
Alexander the Great. The Jews were notorious as stubborn rebels, and what
happened was that the descendants of the victors against Greece, started
quarrelling over power gain. So, one of the factions went to Rome and
invited the Romans to interfere on his behalf... so the Romans went in, and
never got out...
The Jews were always a very rebellious nation, and this brough about their
destruction many times, as happened during the destruction of the first
temple. Anyway, Sholem Asch managed to capture the atmosphere of that period
most excellently, his portrayals are perfect. I was deeply touched by the
way he managed to convey Jesus mood. It felt as if Jesus wanted to be
crucified, and brought about all this episode upon himself *by force*.
Benevolent Romans? Hard to say. It is true that in the first revolt 70 AD,
the Romans fought only against those who rebelled, but 60 years later there
was another revolt against Rome, and then the Romans came ans sacked the
Jews for good. All together 1,400,000 Jews got killed, and the nation was
almost wiped out. Etzion
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Stubbs" <stevestubbs@yahoo.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 7:20 PM
Subject: Theos-World Re: The Nazarene


> Because of the Roman-Jewish war and the resultant diaspora and
> destruction of the temple and the end of the Sadducees, the first
> century was probably the most important period in the history of the
> Jewish people. Not to mention the rise of Christianity and
> everything that entailed. So you made an excellent reading choice if
> you want to understand history.
>
> Historians see some mystery in the fact that the Jews were conquered
> so many times and revolted only against the Romans despite the fact
> the Romans were probably the most benevolent conquerors. Does the
> author address that problem, and, if so, did he have any theory about
> it?